Chinese Premier Li Qiang met separately with Irish President Michael D. Higgins and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Wednesday in Dublin, where the two countries pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, including trade, investment, climate change and people-to-people exchanges. Notably, China waived visa requirements for Irish nationals traveling to the country.
The Chinese premier arrived in Ireland on Tuesday, the last leg of his four-day trip to Europe that included an official visit to Switzerland. He also attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in the Swiss resort town of Davos, where he met with EU officials. This is Li’s second trip to Europe in less than a year, underscoring the importance China attaches to China-Europe ties.
Experts said that China and Ireland have maintained sound bilateral ties and economic and trade cooperation thanks to the EU country’s neutral political stance. While China-EU ties have encountered some difficulties, there is still common ground and great potential for both sides to manage differences and advance cooperation, and countries like Ireland can play a positive role in that, experts noted.
